College Baseball: Saints fall to Florida squad after winning twice on Monday

May 09, 2007|By American News Sports Staff

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After a pair of close games that went Presentation College's way on Monday, a school from Florida turned the tables on the Saints in a big way Tuesday at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association baseball tournament. Florida College used a 12-run seventh inning and solid pitching to earn a 15-0 win over PC Tuesday after the Saints had defeated Briar Cliff of New York 2-1 and Columbia Union of New York 14-11 on Monday. Saints coach Brian Gruber said that Florida College pitcher Levi Davenport was in control from the outset and made quick work of Presentation, which managed just two singles, one each from Matt Lokenvitz and Brett Chlebecek. “This kid was lights-out pitching,” said Gruber of Davenport. “He was a left-hander that kept the ball at the knees and threw in the 80s. He had such good command and threw the fast ball and slider all night long.” Florida College had nine hits in the seventh inning, breaking open a 3-0 ballgame. Robby Woodke belted a three-run home run during the seventh inning for Florida College, which had six players with at least two hits in a 15-hit attack. The Saints won a pair of games on Monday in vastly opposite fashion. PC's Jordan Kline overcame a shaky start and allowed just one run to help fuel the victory over the defending national champion. “Jordan Kline just stepped up and threw a great game for us,” Gruber said. “He was in trouble the first couple of innings and just worked his way out of it.” Gruber said Kline did not rack up a ton of strikeouts, but did what he needed to on the mound. “Not that he was overpowering, but he was using his defense,” Gruber said. “He was hitting spots and keeping hitters off balance.” Kevin Mahoney had a pair of hits, including one with two outs to drive in a run in the second inning. Brett Chlebecek also had two hits, including a two-out run-producing hit in the fourth. Presentation's win over Columbia Union was a slugfest that the Saints eventually won 14-11 in a contest that ended after midnight Eastern Daylight Time. The game featured a bit of everything, including a 30-to-45 minute power outage. “We were up 14-6 going into the last inning,” Gruber explained. “We put up seven runs in the bottom of the sixth and we gave up six in the top of the seventh. We put it on cruise control a bit early.” Mahoney collected three hits and drove in a pair. Dave Hermida, Zach Harry and Logan Huber each finished with two hits. “We hit the ball real well,” Gruber said. “We pounded out 16 hits against them and we needed every one of them as it turned out.” The Saints face Penn State-Beaver in the loser's bracket today at 9 a.m. EST. Tuesday's Game Florida 010 020 (12)-15 15 1 Presentation 000 000 0- 0 2 2 Levi Davenport and Josh Velez; Ryan Brushwood, Tommy Gregg (7) and Josh Cunningham. 3B - Florida College, Mike Stinson, Eric Williams. HR - Florida College, Robby Woodke. Monday's Games Briar Cliff 100 000 0-1 6 1 Presentation 010 100 x-2 7 0 Mike Ziegler, Jonathan Kim (4), Neal Antigua (6) and Scott Rader; Jordan Kline, Zach Lagred (7) and Matt Monson, Cunningham. 3B - Briar Cliff, Dan O'Brien. Columbia Union 301 001 6-11 11 1 Presentation 012 227 x-14 16 3 Jedidiah Jacobsen, Nick Couzantino (3), Alex McHain (3), Tim Rogers (4), and Paul Ruddy; Andy Bauer, Lagred (7), Brushwood (7) and Cunningham. 2B - Columbia Union, Bill Arpei; Presentation, Ryan Ellingson. 3B - Columbia Union, Arpei, Charles Rupert.